Development August 2012 Monthly Development update from DHAN Collective Matters Feature Initiaitve Grassroots Stories Climate Change and Herbal gatherers 9 Coir changed my life 16 Food Security 1 Feature Climate Change and Food Security From the Editors’ Desk Development Dear Readers, Monthly Development update from DHAN Collective Matters Greetings! Vol. VI Issue 8 August 2012 This issue features a article on Climate change and Food security which discusses the future of billions of farmers who depend on it. Maruthi Mooligai Producer Company is the new initiative of Herbal gatherers in Southern Districts of Tamil Nadu. This initiative also features in this issue. The article justice at door steps discusses the piloting of micro-justice in people federation promoted by DHAN Foundation. The story of Mrs.Jaya who came up in life with the support of Kalanjiam and its coir based livelihood initiative also features in this issue. This issue also captures the One Village-One Variety scheme launched in Sengapadai village. A book review on "The confession of a microfinance heretic - how microlending losts its ways and betray poor" is presented in this issue. Know your heritage speaks about a thousand year old temple in Vikramangalam village, Madurai district. Feature Climate change and Food security The readers are welcome to give their suggestions and feedbacks on the articles featured in the development matters. They can send their mails to [email protected] Happy reading! Climate change poses a potential threat to the food security of the world. Particularly the developing countries in the tropical regions will suffer due to this. This article briefs the impact of Climate change on food productivity. Contents 1. Climate Change and Food Security 1 R.Adhinarayanan 2. Herbal gatherers - Maruthi Mooligai Producer Company 9 M.Malini 3. Justice at door steps: Microjustice 12 Anusha DHAN Foundation 4. Coir changed my life 16 18, Pillaiyar Koil Street, S.S. Colony S.Shankarapandian Madurai 625 016. Tamil Nadu, INDIA Tel.: +91 452 2610794 / 805 Fax: 2602247 5. One Village-One Variety scheme launched 20 Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.dhan.org 6. Book Review 23 1 Feature Climate Change and Food Security R.Adhinarayanan * Climate Change temperatures over the past 50 years. Climate change is a significant and lasting change in Climate change is already showing us what's in store the statistical distribution of weather patterns over for our future. It keeps on giving warning signs that periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It we continue to neglect. Growing temperature, variation may be a change in average weather conditions, or in in duration and pattern of rainfall, increase in both the distribution of weather around the average conditions frequency and magnitude of natural calamities and above (i.e., more or fewer extreme weather events). In its all global level fight over natural resources- land, oil, recently released Fourth Assessment Report, the water, minerals etc. shows how precious these natural Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, of the resources are becoming. Not only Industries, natural United Nations, concluded there's a more than 90 percent resources are misused for agriculture, to keep in tune probability that human activities over the past 250 years with the global food needs. have warmed our planet. The industrial activities that our modern civilization depends upon have raised The challenge posed by Climate change to agriculture atmospheric carbon dioxide levels from 280 parts per also leaves a big question mark over future food security million to 379 parts per million in the last 150 years. and also on lives of billions farmers who depend on it. The panel also concluded there's a better than 90 percent Agriculture is now seen as an unviable livelihood option, probability that human-produced greenhouse gases such the fact being visible from migration of youths in villages as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide have towards nearby towns and cities, which is due to the caused much of the observed increase in Earth's fact that income from agriculture is becoming more https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog438w/node/240 Courtesy: *Mr. R.Adhinarayanan, Team Leader, DHAN Foundation 2 and more unreliable. Agriculture uses 70 % of world's since about 1970, with limited evidence of increases fresh water availability, which is becoming more and elsewhere. There is no clear trend in the annual scarcer. But we need more food, more and more food numbers of tropical cyclones. It is difficult to to keep our world hunger free. ascertain longer-term trends in cyclone activity, particularly prior to 1970. Impacts of climate change Average Northern Hemisphere temperatures during The IPCC in its fourth assessment report on Climate the second half of the 20th century were very likely change has observed the following as impacts of climate higher than during any other 50-year period in the change on human and natural environment. last 500 years and likely the highest in at least the past 1300 years. Eleven of the last twelve years (1995-2006) rank among the twelve warmest years in the instrumental Changes in snow, ice and frozen ground have with high confidence increased the number and size of record of global surface temperature (since 1850). glacial lakes, increased ground instability in mountain The temperature increase is widespread over the and other permafrost regions and led to changes in globe and is greater at higher northern latitudes. some Arctic and Antarctic ecosystems. Land regions have warmed faster than the oceans There is high confidence that some hydrological Global average sea level has risen since 1961 at an systems have also been affected through increased average rate of 1.8 [1.3 to 2.3] mm/yr and since runoff and earlier spring peak discharge in many 1993 at 3.1 [2.4 to 3.8] mm/yr, with contributions glacier- and snow-fed rivers and through effects from thermal expansion, melting glaciers and ice on thermal structure and water quality of warming caps, and the polar ice sheets. Whether the faster rivers and lakes. rate for 1993 to 2003 reflects decadal variation or In terrestrial ecosystems, earlier timing of spring an increase in the longer-term trend is unclear events and pole ward and upward shifts in plant Observed decreases in snow and ice extent are also and animal ranges are with very high confidence consistent with warming. Satellite data since 1978 linked to recent warming. show that annual average Arctic sea ice extent has In some marine and freshwater systems, shifts in shrunk by 2.7 [2.1 to 3.3]% per decade, with larger ranges and changes in algal, plankton and fish decreases in summer of 7.4 [5.0 to 9.8]% per abundance are with high confidence associated with decade. Mountain glaciers and snow cover on rising water temperatures, as well as related changes average have declined in both hemispheres. in ice cover, salinity, oxygen levels and circulation. From 1900 to 2005, precipitation increased Of the more than 29,000 observational data series, significantly in eastern parts of North and South from 75 studies, that show significant change in America, northern Europe and northern and central many physical and biological systems, more than Asia but declined in the Sahel, the Mediterranean, 89% are consistent with the direction of change southern Africa and parts of southern Asia. expected as a response to warming Globally, the area affected by drought has likely2 increased since the 1970s. It is very likely that over Projected Impacts of Climate change the past 50 years: cold days, cold nights and frosts There is high agreement and much evidence that have become less frequent over most land areas, with current climate change mitigation policies and and hot days and hot nights have become more related sustainable development practices, global frequent. It is likely that: heat waves have become GHG emissions will continue to grow over the next more frequent over most land areas, the frequency few decades of heavy precipitation events has increased over most Continued GHG emissions at or above current rates areas, and since 1975 the incidence of extreme high would cause further warming and induce many sea level3 has increased worldwide. changes in the global climate system during the 21st There is observational evidence of an increase in century that would very likely be larger than those intense tropical cyclone activity in the North Atlantic observed during the 20th century 3 Very likely increase in frequency of hot extremes, observed over eastern Madhya Pradesh, north- heat waves and heavy precipitation eastern India, and some parts of Gujarat and Kerala Likely increase in tropical cyclone intensity; less (-6% to -8% of the normal over the last 100 years).ia confidence in global decrease of tropical cyclone and parts of south India. numbers States of Gujarat and West Bengal has shown Pole ward shift of extra-tropical storm tracks with increasing trend of drought and floods, while Orissa consequent changes in wind, precipitation and shows a decreasing trend. Overall changes is temperature patterns negligible Very likely precipitation increases in high latitudes The sea level rise was between 1.06-1.75 mm per and likely decreases in most subtropical land regions, year. These rates are consistent with 1-2 mm per continuing observed recent trends year global sea level rise estimates of IPCC. Terrestrial ecosystems like tundra, boreal forest and Projected